Cotton chopper and cultivator.



1. L. ERWIN4 COTTON CHOPPER AND CULTIVATOR. APPLICATION FILED MAY5.1911.

- Patent-ed Maylll. 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOR James L .Erwin WITNESSES J. L. ERWIN.

COTTON CHOPPER AND CULTIVATORI APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1917.

Patented -May 14, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 2 ElA I IIB... QN

y INvENTo Jamas L Erwin' wITNEssEs 'ATTORNEY LIL. ERWIN.

comu @noma AND cuLlvMoR.

APPLICATION FILYED MAY 5 |91?. I

vPatented Mayll, 1918.

a SHEETS-SHEET I a' n INVENTOR ,I BY W zal 1 A i ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFXCE JAMES L. lElltWIll',v OF GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO :PAUL W. MACK, F GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA.

COTTON CHOPPER AND CULTIVATOR.

To aZZ'wwm t may concern:

`Be it knownthat I, JAMES L. ERWIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greensboro, in the county of Guilford and i State of North Carolina, have invented certainf new and useful Improvements inCottonChoppersand Cultivators, of which the following is a specification. c

This invention relates to an improvement in agricultural implements, and particularly to animplement for the cultivation of cotton, and has for its principalobject to pro-v vide a machine which may be used solely as n a cultivator for `general farm use, and which may have applied thereto special devices for cutting all surplus-plants from the row, being particularly valuable in this respect in the cultivationof cotton'. 1- v Y Another object of the invention is to pro,-v vide a cultivator with a cotton chopping ap-V paratus adapted to be readily attached thereto when desired and removable whenfthe services of the machineare to be used solely for cultivating purposes, and'furtherto design the machine so that cutting blades yof various widths may be used' 'for special and particular purposes and also to-enable ready and easy change vofthe driving mechanism when it is desired to vary thev speed of operation of the cuttinglbladefs.` y l 'n y Afurt-her object of the inventionv isi-to provide a simple means for attachment to a cultivatorto convert thel same into a combined chopper and cultivating implement and to' make such'changes and variations in 'the driving mechanism as vare necessaryv to suit thelconditions under which' the machine is operated withouty needlessly dis'assembling the various parts of the machine.

*With the above as the principal objects 1n view, the invention consists 'in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement Aof parts hereinafter described, pointed "out in the appended claims 'and illustrated in the Y475 accompanying dr awings,infwhich= i A n L'fLfFigurel'l isfatop plan-view-ofthe im# Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 14, 1918.

i Applicationled May 5, 1917. n' Serial No. 166,660; i

provedk cotton cultivating and chopping machine,

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1,

Flg. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a rear elevationpartly in section of the shiftingmechanism for changing the drive gear,

'-Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the lower end of the cotton chopping blade,

Fig. 6 is anelevat-ionof a modified form of the blade to be used for special purposes.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates the main frame of a cultivator which may be of any size, form and material desired or found most convenient and which is supported near its rear end on a horizontal axle 11, preferably square in form but having cir-l cular ends on which are fixed the ground wheels 12, said circular portions being mounted to turn in boxes 13 secured-upon the under side of the frame 10. At theforward end of the frame 10 is-bolted a tongue 14 to which draft animals for drawing the cultivator are hitched,

lPivoted to bearings l15 Vdepending from the under side of the frame'lO at the' front thereof are two cultivator beams -16 which extend rearwardly 'toward the axle llf'and each has secured thereto two standardsil' and 18 on` oppositesides of the ,beamsV 16 and at dilferent points 1 in the lengths v-of i said'beams. Each of' these standardscarries a shovel 19 on Yits lower end for the? purpose of loosening Athe'{ }groundand,hilling it on the two sides ofthe row` of plants under cultivation. v Y Secured on the cross bar 20 midway the length of the frame 10 are two brackets 21 and 22 to each of which ispivoted a' grooved pulley 23 `over which passes a chain 24, each chain connected at one end to the rear end of a' beam 16, the opposite ends 'of said chainsbeing secured each to, a lever'-25 L'piv-Y oted at its lower end ona bracket and having a locking dog to engage a toothed plate 26 for the purpose of retaining the lever in any position of adjustment, and consequently the cultivator beams 16 at such position of elevation or depression as is required for working the ground.

Extending longitudinally of the cultivator frame 10 in the central line thereof is a horizontal shaft 27, the forward end' of which is mounted in a bearingv 2S removably bolted to the under side of the forward bar 29 of frame 10. A second bearing 30 is bolted on the under side of the cross bar 20 and affords a bearing for the rear end of shaftr27. In front of the cross bar 2O the shaft 27 is providedl with acrank 31 that is journaled in a boxing 32 on the lower endA of a choppingA armv 33, .the upper end of said arm being pivotally connectedv on one side of afsleeve` 3a mounted to slide freely:vr on a verticaly rod 35 that projects upwardly from, thecross bar 20. Below the boxing 82, the armcarries-a cutting blade 86 that engages certain of the plants in the ron7 of cottonvplants and cuts them down or removes them from the row when the plants are too thick for theirfvproper growth. The blade 36 has a broad cutting edge 3T at its lower end and a longitudinal slot 3S at the upper` end through which fastening bolts `39 vare passed for securing the blade on the lowerend of the. arm 33. By this means of fastening it'inay be readily seen that the position of they blade relative to the arm 331 may be adjusted to suit conditions.-

I-n place-of the blade 36' which may have a Ystraight cuttingedge,` a blade similar to that shown in Figa 6' may be substituted therefor, said latter blade having a plurality of saw tooth projections on its lower edge.

The shaft 27 in rear of the bearing 3G is preferably square as shown, and extends nearly to the axle 1,1. On this square portion of the: shaft is slidably mounted a bevel i pinion @which maybe moved on said shaft into: mesh with a bevel'gear L,t1 secured to the axle 11 by a hub or collar 42 on the gear and. a binding screw 43 in said collar screwed into engagement with the axle 11. Thebevelfpiniony 4Q- has a hub 44 in which is formed a circular groove l5 for the bifurcated end- 46 of a shiftingy lever il?? pivotally mounted on the cross bar 2O at 48- by means ofra bolt passing through a longitudinallslot 49 Yin the leverll'l', this slot-permittingg the lever to be moved endwise sufliciently-'far to wholly disconnect the bifurcated endet@ from vthe hub lll and thus enable the shaft 2.7, bevel gear .40,y and.y chopping fiever being removed from the. culti- Water.with littleftreuble, i f- In using the machine above described, the four cultivator shovels shown may be used if desired, but preferably for chopping and cutting cotton the two forward shovels 19 only are required. The machine is drawn through the ield with the row of plants passing between the cultivators 16 in line with the chopping blade 36 andarm 33. The ground wheels 12 fixed to the shaft 11 rotate the latter. and through,.:the bevelqgear 41 and. pinion 40 the crank shaft 27 is rotated. The speed of this shaft is adjusted by theV size of the bevel pinion Ll0 which may be larger or smaller as desired and made to mesh readily with the bevel gear 41 j by adjusting, the latter 0n the axle 11. lVhen y it is desired to rotate the shaft 27 after the proper gears have. beeirplaced in'vposi.- tion, the hand lever 47- is moved-.to force the bevel'y pinion l0 into engagement with the gear l1 and thus set up rotation of the shaft 2,7V which through the crank 31 andits connection 32 withr the armv 33 will cause'the bla-de- 36 to. move in a rotary path-.in a verL tical plane transversely-tothe line of direction in which kthemachine is. traveling. This will, as itmoves downwardly and `horizontally throughrtheA ground, cut or otherwise remove: certain plants from the rowy of plants over which the machine is traveling, and rising upwardly will pass over certain other plants to again engage superfluous plants in the row and so4 on until the end of the row has been. reached. At thesame time the shovels 19. are digging the earth and hilling the samelabout the plants in the row.

If the machine is to be` used as a cultivatoralone, the shaft 27 may be removed by unbolting they bearings 28 and 30.. The shaft 27 can: then be separated and the sleeve 31 lifted from the rod 35. y

What I claim' is:

1. A cotton chopper and cultivator com,- prisingav frame, wheelsfixed on an axle supporting said frame, a pair of cultivating implements suspendedf'below the frame, a horizontal crank shaft extending. longitudr nall-y' in Vtheccntral line of' thel frame and mounted in bearings thereon, driving gear between the; aXletand the crankshaft, a sleeve slidable vertically on a support oarriedby the frame, an arm pivotally connected at one end to saidvsleeve and at its opposite end' to the crank of the cran-k shaft and adapted tobe moved bysaid crank shaft in a. path transverselyl of thel row of pla-nts under treatment, and ak chopping blade adjustably mounted on the lower end of said arm plants from the row. t

2. A cotton chopper and cultivator ycoinprisngi af-frame., yvs'heelsxed O11e ern-axle for engaging and removing certain supporting said frame, a pair of cultivating a bearing box at the lower ends of said arm implements suspended below the frame, a to receive said crank, and a fiat broad faced horizontal crank shaft extending longitudichopping blade adjustably secured on the nally in the central line of the frame and lower end of said arm.

5 mounted in bearings thereon, driving gear In testimony whereof I aix my signature 15 between the axle and the crank shaft, a ver` in presence of two witnesses.

tical post mounted on the frame, a sleeve JAM'ES L. ERWIN. slidable longitudinally on said post and hav- Witnesses: ing a lateral projection, a depending arm J. H. JOHNSON,

10 pivoted on .said projection at its upper end, PAUL W. MACK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

